World Pulses Day 2024: BD's pulses self-sufficiency struggle on amid high imports, say speakers

Bangladesh continues to struggle with closing a persistent gap between the demand for and local production of pulses, despite extensive government efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in this essential agricultural commodity, speakers have said.

Local pulse production has witnessed a fourfold rise over the past one and half decades, reaching 0.9 million tonnes, but it remains insufficient, constituting only one-third of the country’s demand, which stands at 2.5 million tonnes, they told an international workshop the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) organised at a Dhaka city hotel on Saturday marking the World Pulses Day 2024.

The day is being observed across the world with the theme “Pulses: nourishing soils and people.”

To address the shortage of pulses, Bangladesh has had to rely heavily on imports, costing Tk 90 billion, straining the economy, said Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdus Shahid at the programme.

As a result, the government has taken up a series of initiatives aimed at enhancing the domestic production to bridge the gap between local demand and production, he said.

As Bangladesh commemorates World Pulses Day, the focus is not only on raising awareness about the nutritional benefits of pulses but also on initiating  collective efforts towards achieving self-sufficiency in pulse production, said the agriculture minister.

At the workshop, Chief Scientific Officer at BARI AKM Mahbubul Alam presented a paper that highlighted challenges impeding local production, such as limited allocation of cultivable land for pulses and inadequate access to improved varieties.

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